Lapland

[usernotfound0000]

Considering booking lapland next year, kids will be 8 and 5. Has anyone been? Looking for inspiration on the best place to stay. Is it better to book a package? I've seen Magic Breaks and TUI offer packages but are there better companies? What do I need to consider. Thank you!

Following as this is on my list for 2 years time. I’ve seen a company called Canterbury recommended but they don’t travel from our airport.

If you do a search, you’ll find people posting, including me. I won’t repeat myself here, but I did a DIY package a few years back for less than €1000 for the 3 of us. We did the overnight sleeper train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi which cut costs considerably and was fun.

We fly out with Canterbury Travel for 3 nights tomorrow morning! We're doing their Magical Interlude break.

It is expensive but we wanted to treat ourselves and the kids (8 and 5) and booked it a year ago. From my understanding the Tui, etc breaks are cheaper but don't include all of the activities - you get a taster session then have to pay extra if you want to have a full session. Canterbury has everything included - activities, food, etc. Alcohol at the hotel is pretty much the only thing you have to pay for!

All I would say is that you need to plan in advance - when we booked this trip a year ago they had very few spaces left so it's not something to leave to the last minute if you want to get on the popular trips.

I totally get that doing it DIY is cheaper but for us the convenience factor of having it all arranged and just having to show up made it the best choice for us.

If you're less fussed about the Santa aspect, Canterbury also do a 6 night trip that departs on 27 December (so you get a New Year's Eve dinner) that still has all the activities (reindeer sleigh, huskie rides, etc) just no Santa. It's barely more expensive than the 3 night Santa trip and children under 5 are not allowed so it's probably a better one for older kids, or just adults!

Oh that sounds fab! I hope you have a wonderful time. How far in advance can you book? Just wondering if we could book for 2024 instead or is it too early?

We just got back after four nights with Inghams. We went to Yllas. Very uncommercialised experience . Tui customers did not get the same quality experience. They were staying at the local hotel and we were in the log cabin.

I did Inghams to Yllas the winter before covid. We did a full week in a log cabin in the woods.

Honestly one of the best experiences that we've ever had. It was just wonderful.

@usernotfound0000 Canterbury aren't taking bookings for 2024 yet, they're currently doing 2023, but their website says you can register your email with them and they will let you know when 2024 bookings are open.

www.canterburytravel.com/lapland-holidays-2023/#modal-popup-subscribe

We've just got home from a 3 night stay with TUI in Ruka. People tend to be a bit sniffy about them as Canterbury etc are specialists but I can honestly say it was amazing and so well organised from start to finish. I cannot fault them.

The flights are operated by TUI so on the way there we had activity packs for the children, Christmas sing alongs, Santa landing on the roof (!) We were greeted by elves at the airport and taken to our apartments. The next day was our taster day. This took place on a frozen lake. There was a husky sled ride, kick sledges, curling, plus cosy log cabins with hot berry juice and big open fires to toast marshmallows. We were then driven by snowmobile through a forest to another site where we fed reindeer and tried out snowmobiles and sledging.
They weren't full experiences but it was -25 so actually a few minutes at a time was quite enough for our kids!
We had enough free time that we were able to book a longer husky ride with a local operator (Tui charge a huge mark up on the full experiences). We also had a morning with Santa and a gala dinner on the last night. Both were also great.

I would definitely recommend booking early. Our trip, booked 2 years ago cost £2800 for a family of 4. The same trip
Went up to £4500 nearer the time!

We're back! Oh my word, it was amazing! Honestly, a trip of a lifetime - we did a reindeer sleigh ride and got to feed the reindeer afterwards; a huskie sledge ride - DH got to drive the huskies and me and the 2 DC sat in the sledge; drove snowmobiles (adults drove their own and the kids got to have a ride on mini ones towed by an instructor); went tobogganing and of course had the "Search for Santa" which involved visiting various locations to meet Elves and Mrs Claus who all gave clues about where we could fine him. I won't spoil the surprise as it is so well done - like a military operation! The guides and actors working with the group are so good and very convincing - we thought several of them musts be locals, but they were all Brits apparently!

You are on a dedicated coach for the whole trip so always with the same group of people (my daughter has picked up a penpal to keep in touch with!) from the moment you leave the airport, and you never share the visits with another group - you'll see them at the hotel and in the evenings but there are never more than your group of about 40 people at each of the activities.

The idea of being a Holiday Rep never appealed to me when I was younger, but honestly if I was in my early 20s now I'd jump at the chance to spend 7 weeks out in Lapland taking tours around!

We took our son when he was 6 and it was magical. We went with Santa’s Lapland who were amazing- from the moment we arrived at Gatwick to the moment we returned home everything was just wonderful. Def recommend them!

I took my DD two years ago with Santa‘s Lapland. The whole trip (including flights) was amazing. One of the Pilots came out on each of the flights and played party games with the passengers. All the kids got to go in the cockpit once landed. We booked most of the extras Night time snowbikes into the forest to see the Aurora Lights, Sledging with Huskies, Sledging with Reindeers… all brilliant. Santas village was the highlight, they take you through the forest to Santas Cabin, really magical. Hotel we choose was a 4 Star, very clean but Basic which was fine and food was good. Hoping to go back with our son too but he’s only 3 and too young. Every toddler we saw whilst there didn’t enjoy it as it’s simply too cold for them so we are waiting until hes 4 or 5.

What's the average price?

We went 2018 and paid £3k for 3 nights.

.. that was for me and DD, we priced it up for next year with 2 adults & 2 kids and I think it came in at about £5K

We paid £6k for 4 of us for 3 nights, booked last year. I looked at the same holiday for 2023 and it’s £800 more!